Sheet feeding and registering mechanism for printing-presses.



v G. E. PANC-OAST. SHEET FEEDING AND REGISTERING MECHANISM FOR PRINTINGPRESSES.

APPLIOATION TILED JUNE '7, 1902.

Patented Aug. 25, 1914,

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ATTORNEYS 5& MQA M G. E. PANOOAST. SHEET FEEDING AND REGISTERINGMECHANISM r011 PRINTING rnnssm/ APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7, 1902. v 1 ,108,220. Y Patented Aug. 25, 19 14 2 SHEETFSHBET 2.

WITNESSES ATTORNEYS GEORGE E, PANCOAST, or BROOKLYN, NEW YoRiz,

To all wizoin itmag concern:

A of Brooklyn, in the .useful Improvements in -.Sheet thesheets have tobe instantly accelerated from a position of rest to the impressioncylinder,

I Heretofore, been so constructed that 'wh which motion is impartedsecure perfect register in come the register of the impressions on thesheets may sent the sheet asnearl y as possible at the illustrate by.way

'ASSIGNOR T0 AMERICAN LITHO- GRAPHIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION GEE NEWYORK.

SHEET FEEDING AND REGISTERING MEoHA'NIsJn FOR rnmrING-rEEssEs.

Specification of Letters Patent. f Patented Aug; 25, 1914,

' Application filed June 7,1902. Seria1No.110,570.

the principles of my invention and the best modein which I havecontemplated applying those principles. .Ofthe rawings, side elevationof a Be known that I, GEORGE E. PANooA'sT, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and-a resident county of-Kings, State of New York,have'invented'certainnew and Feeding and Registering Mechanism forPrinting- Presses, of which the following is aspecification. v My.invention'relates to a sheet feeding and registering mechanism, and ithas for object to provide. a mechanism whereby sheets of paper orsimilar material may beuniformly and reliably presented in accurateregister to high speed printing presses or similar machines.

In sheet presses it has been the common practiceheretofore to presentthes'heets to a moving impression cylinder by means of which theforwardedges of the sheets, are placed by hand, or otherwise, the gagebeingmoved out of the path of the the proper time to deliver them to theim-' pression cylinder at the desired point there on. According to thisprinciple of operation Figure 1 represents a portion of a printingpress-constructed inaccordance with my inventiong'Fig. 2 is a plan iewof the same; Figs..3l and 4 are respectively a plan and a sectional sideview illustrating a detail; lEjigs. 5, 6 and 7 are sectional viewsperiods-of their operation; Fig. 8 is a view ent formof construction;Fig. 9 is a trans verse sectiona'l'view of thesame; Fig. 10 is a planview; and Figs. 11, 1'2 and 13 are -(6I1d.- .views illustrating theoperation of the -modified form of the device.

In accordance with my invention, the sheets are presented to the pressat substan tially the same speed as that of the printing .and ressionmembers, and the position of the s sets with reference to the printingand impression surfaces is determined in the press bysuitablepositioning devices, which are carried by or move with the grippers and*WillhJ-fihtbfil' have av suitable movement relatively, to the sheetcarrying member of the press for 'usting the sheets upon that the fullspeed of and it is found in practice that more or less slippage or lostmotion between the sheets and the grippers on the impression cylinder isinevitable. moreover, the grippers have en coming into contact with thesheets they have a rearward motion relative to 'theimpression cylinder,more or less to the thereby causing the positions of the on theimpression cylinder to vary.

cylinder 1- .a' web-cutter, or from a device for automaticallyseparating'the sheets from .a pile, the sheet supplying device, whateverform is used,'- being timed sheet to the impressioncylinder for everyprinting revolution of the latter-and to read member. before they aresecured theretoby the grippers.

.Referring to the drawings in detail, and at first to the form of thedevice shown in Figs. .1 to 7, 1 .represents the impression member of aprinting-couple,

sheets, latter For these reasons it has been impossible to such pressesespeheetsare supplied to the impression cially at high speeds.

'My invention has for an ob ect to over-- above mentioned difficultiesand to provide a sheet feed press in which a perfect be secured at highas well as low speeds. I My invention consists in the-novel parts,improvements and combinations 'herein shown and described, I

The accompa 'ying drawings, WhlCh- .are referred to. herein and form apart hereof, of example,'two embodi; ,ments of my invention and serve inconned. tion with the description herein to explam the intermediate gear6- which me'shes with from any suitable source, as from- 3 and 4;, ofwhich thesimilar to that of Fig. 1 illustrating a differ:

as usual, to forward a the gear 5 and also with a gear 7 fixed on theshaft of the roller 4. Tapes 8 or, other suitable means, are provided toconvey theforward edge of the iinpre'ssion-su'rface-"12 and'is-provided'with a plurality of gripper carry the same to the bringsaid face 12,

'18 are preferab fingers 13. Preferably gripper fingers 13" are arrangedtocooperate with the .upper surface of a-member 14 to grip 'the forwardedges ofthesh'eets as they emerge from the guide fingers and 10 an ointof delivery. The

member leis remove l'y'secured to-the forward edgejof the impressionsurface '12 by screws 15. The grippers are brought-ina direction to gripthe sheets by asuitable spring, (not shown) and they are opened toreceive the sheets and deliver the same by cam 16 which is fixed to theframe- 2 at one end of the cylinder in position to engage the arm 17secured to one end of the shaft 11. For the purpose of accuratelyfixingthe position of the sheets on the impression sursuitable' positioni orgaging devicesare provided on the impression cylinder, said positioningdevices being given a movement in the path of the sheets and in abackward direction with relation to the movement-of the impressionmember so as to engage the forward edges of the sheets and edges to 'apredetermined position with relation to the impression surface. In orderthat the position of the sheets may not be disturbed by the'grippers asthey close thereon, the positioning devices "are caused to move with thegrippers, the latter being ,to this end given a backward movementwithrelation to the impression cylinder-as they approach the front edge ofthe sheets. Preferably the positioning devices are mounted directly onthe grippers. As shown, the pogages 18 which are-adjustably secured tothe inner side of *the gripper fingers "13 by screws 19 whiclrt-cpassthrough slotssin'the gages and :are'tapped to the fingers. To

prevent laterali'displacement? ofthe gages they are provided rwithpins-20 which en'- gage slots in the fingers as shown. With the objectin- .view of preventing displacement of the sheet on the gagesthe member14: is

provided with recesses 21 the gages; Theoperative faces of thegages lyarranged atsubstantially right anglestd the grippingisurfaces ofthe egrippers are' fingers 13' so that when 1; opened to recei' ethe sheets,the gages will -be located across the paths'of the sheets as. they leavethe guides 9 :kindof recess, 1nto which and as shown,-the.

= ried backward to be formed in the delivery. mechanism.-

fingers close to 0 rollers 24 and sitionlng devices consist of abutmentsor.

adapted -to receive v For the .purposesoflifting the forward edges ofthe sheets so and 10 and so that License of the gagesand grippers willthus form a the forward edges of the sheets will be directed by theguides 9. a'nd'lO. Owing to the position-of the center of oscillation ofthe gripper fingers the operative surfaces of the latter together withthe gages 18 will have a component of motion rearwardly with relation tothe forward edge of the impression surface so that the forward edges ofthe sheets will be cara predetermined position .Withrelation to theimpression surface Illa;-

d reason of this construction any'slight irregularity in the feed of thesheets will be compensated for. As the forward edges'o'fthe sheets aremoved backwardly by the grippers and gages, a slight buckle orbend willsheet between the points of the grippers and the forward ends of theguides 9 and 10 as illustrated in Fig. (S gns the sheet is carriedforward and into contact with a printing surface, the sliglhet buckle orbend formed in the sheet will caused to travel back so that everyportionof the sheet will occupy the same point on the impression cylinder thatit would have occupied If it hadbeen fed onto the impression surfacewith its forward edge in the proper predetermined position. v

:.After the forward edgeof the sheet has been carriedv pastthe printingsurface, it is transferred from the grippers to a suitable The deliverymechanism shown consists of a series of stripper 23 which are terminatedat a'point der and act to guide-the sheets to a-pa1r of suitablesheet-forwarding delivery rollers 24:

and 25.

In order that the sheets be positively released controlled from the timethey are by the gripper fingers until they reach the 25, a series ofrollers 26 is provided between which and therimpression the-surface ofthe impression cylin-v surface 12 the sheets are nipped. The rollers 24:and '26,- as shown, are mounted on suitable shafts journaled at their.opposite ends'in the members ofuarms 2,7 andw28 respectively, said armsbeing-adjustably' fixed site ends-in suitable. brackets 30. The roller25 is mounted ona suitable shaft which is "ournaled at its oppositeendsdirectl in th rackets 30.

gagedwith certainty by the stripper fingers 23,:suitable/Sheetliftersare provide In gtothe transverse rod 29 secured at its oppohat. they maybe enrecesses 30 to accommodate the fingers 31.

.' lation to the aicis toward the axis of the cylinder, so that thesurface, and the;

vinclusive, a series of fingers 31 is rigidly secured to a pair oftransverse rods or bars the cylinder.

the bars 32 and 33 are both indicated in Fig. 11. The cams 38 areprefgages 18 and project forwardly under the sheets in such a positionthat when the grippers are opened to release the sheets, the ends of thepins 31 act to lift the forward edges of the sheets outwardly'with relation to the impression surface-as shown in' Fig.- 7.- The member 12 isprovided with against the fingers, said adjustment being e ected by theelasticity of the paper and the buckle therein. The outer rearwardlybent ends 31 of the fingers 31 are thenpermitted to close upon and gripthe forward edges ,of the sheets by the eccentric portion 42 of the cam,and the fingers are permitted to remain in this position by the lowconcentric portion 45 of the cam, so as to hold the sheets and carrythem past the printing member to the point of delivery. The sheets arereleased and the fingers 31 are moved back to: their inoperativeposition by the eccentric portion 43 of the cam, said fingers being heldin that position b the high concentric portion 46. It will he seen thatin this construction there is a fixed relation between thevsheet-adjusting and sheet holding devices, and further that thesheet-adjusting devices are moved in the path of the sheets andrelatively to the sheet-carrying member to adjust the sheets, and thatthe sheet-holding or gripping devices, as they are brought into contactwith the sheets move at right angles to the path of motion of the latterso that there can be no lost motion or slipping of the sheets due to theaction of the grippin surfaces.

For the purpose 0 preventing the edges of the sheets from slippinginwardly along the inner surfaces of the fingers 31, recesses 34 arepreferably provided in the forward edge of the impression surface inposition In accordance with the embodiment of my invention illustratedin Figs. 8 to 13 32 and 33, and these bars are provided at their outerends with suitable friction rollers, which are adapted to slide in thecam grooves 35 formed in the opposite ends of The movement of the bars32 and 33, together with the fingers 31, is controlled by a pair oflinks 36, which are pivoted at their outer ends to the opposite ends ofthe bar 33 and are bifurcated at their inner ends to embrace and beguided by the shaft of the impression cylinder 1, said links beingprovided with stud rollers 37, adapted to engage the cams 38 fixed tothe frame 2 in alsuitable position with reof the cylinder. As shown, thebars 32 and 33 are impelled inwardly stud rollers 37 are held in cnstant engagement with the cam 38, by ns of a spring 39. The cam grooves35 are substantially radial at their inner portions and are curvedforwardly at their outer ends, as shown. It follows from thisconstruction that when in engagement with the inner ends of the slots35, the fingers 31 will move in a radial direction with relation to theimpression cylinder, and when the bars 32 and 33 are moved outwardly,the upper bar 32 will pass into the curved portion of the slot 35 andthe fingers 31 will move away from the forward edge of the im ressionsurface back into the gripper gap 0 th their operative position. Theedges of the sheets are revented from slipping outwardly off the ends ofthe guide fingers 31 by the rearwardly bent ends 31 of the latter. Theoperation of the machine having been fully described in connection withthedescription of the construction thereof, no further description 'ofthe operation will be necessary to a complete understanding of theinvention.

y invention, in 'its broader aspects, is not limited to the preciseconstruction shown nor to the e impression cylinder, as

erably provided vwith threeueccentric portions 41, 42, 43, and threeconcentric por-. tions 44, 45 and 46. Y The eccentric. portion 41 actsto bringjthefingers 31 into position against the forWardedge of theimpression cam is so adjusted that thls operation ta es. place at suchtime after the forward edge hat the impression surface has passed theguides 9 and 10 that a bend or buckle will be formed in the sheets, thelatter being fed to the impression surface with their forward edges 3,suitable dis-. tanee in advance of the forward edge of" the impressionsurface. This position of the fingers 31fis..illustrated in Fig. 12. Thefingers are preferably retained in this position for a short-time by theconcentric portion 44 of the cam to allow the forward edges of thesheets time to be adjusted chan es other than those herein suggested maybemade in such construction without departing from the main principlesof the invention and without sacrificing-the chief advantages thereof.

at I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is: 1; Ina-device for presenting sheets to a moving sheet carrying member thecombia sheet gripper, and a sheet positioning devioe moving with saidgripper, said gripper and said "positioning device traveling with andwhile so traveling having a movement relativelv to said sheet carryingmember for adjusting the sheets upon the member.

to receive the fingers 31 when they are in precise construction by whichit maybe carried into effect, as many 1 nation with the sheet carryingmember, of

' adjusting means for advancing the sheet to said member atsubstantially the same speed as that of the member, a sheet gripper, anda sheet positioning device moving with said gripper, said gripper andsaid positioning device traveling with and while so traveling having amovement relatively to "said sheet carrying member for adjusting thesheets upon the member.

4. In a device for presenting sheets to a moving sheet carrying memberthe combination with the sheet carrying member, of a sheet gripper andan abutment or gage carried by said gripper, said gripper and gagetraveling with and while so traveling having a movement relatively tosaid. sheet carrying, ,member upon the member.

5. In a device for presenting sheets to a moving sheet carrying memberthe combination with the sheet carrying member, of means for advancingthe sheets to said member, a sheet gripper carried by said member, anabutment or gage carried by said gripper, and means for giving saidgripper and gage a movement relatively to said sheet carrying member foradjusting the sheets upon the member while the latter is in motion.

6. In a devicefor presenting sheets to a moving sheet carrying memberthe combination with the sheet carrying member, of

means for advancing the sheets to said member, at substantially the samespeed as that of the member, a sheet gripper carried by said member, anabutment or gage carried by said gripper, and means for giving saidgripper and gage a backward movement relatively to said sheet carryingmember for adjusting the sheets upon the member while the latter is inmotion.

for adjusting the sheets 7. In a device for presenting rotary sheetcarrying member the comb nation with a rotary member, of feed wil ersfor advancing the'sheets to said member at substantially the same speedas that of the member, a sheet gripper carried by said member,anabutment or gage carried by said gripper, and means forgiving saidabutment or gage a backward movement relatively to .said rotary' m'emberfor adjusting the sheets upon the member while the latter is in motion.

8. In a device for presenting sheets to a moving-sheet carrying memberthe combination with the sheet carrying member, of a combined sheetgripper and gage, and means for moving said gripper and gage in the pathof the sheets and' re'latively to said sheet carrying member toadjustthe sheets on the member while thelatter is in motion andtransversely to the path of the sheets to grip them and hold them intheir adj usted position. 1

9. In a press for printing sheets, the combination with a me ber havingan impression surface, of means for advancing the sheets to said memberwhile the latter is in motion, said sheets being presented with theiredges overlapping the forward edge of the impression surface, a combinedsheet gripper and gage, and means for moving said gripper and gagetoward the forward edge of the impression surface to adjust the sheetsupon the impression surface while the said member is in motion andtransversely to the path of the sheets to grip them and hold them intheir adjusted position. a

10. In aprinting press. the combmat1on "with an impression cylinderhaving a plurality of recesses at' the forwardedge of the impressionsurface, of a gage consisting of a plurality of fingers adapted to enterthe said recesses, and means for moving the said fingers rearwardly andforwardly with relation to the impression surface into and out ofoperative position in said recesses, substantially as described.

In testimony'whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in oftwo subscribing witnesses. GEORGE E. PANCOAS'I. Witnesses;

HERMAN W. EISENHARDT, WILLIAM II. Banzs'rr.

the presence sheets to a 7

